Jakarta, Indonesia—Indonesia began imposing a complete ban on palm oil exports Thursday, as the world’s largest producer of the commodity risked destabilizing a global vegetable oil market already hitting peak prices.
The archipelago nation is facing a domestic shortage of cooking oil as well as soaring prices, with consumers in several cities having to queue for hours in front of distribution centers to buy the essential commodity at subsidized rates.
Authorities in Southeast Asia’s most populous country fear the scarcity and rising costs could provoke social tensions and have moved to secure supplies of the product, which is used in a range of goods such as chocolate spreads and cosmetics.
In a last-minute reversal late Wednesday, they clarified the embargo would include all exports of the oilseed and not only products intended for edible oils, as indicated a day earlier.
“All products,” including crude palm oil, “are covered by the Ministry of Trade regulation and will be enforced,” said Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto.
President Joko Widodo said supplying the country’s 270 million residents was his government’s “highest priority.”
“As the world’s largest palm oil producer, it is ironic that we are having difficulties getting cooking oil,” he said.
